Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion

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Overview

The Barbarian Invasion is the first official expansion pack released by the Creative Assembly for the game Rome: Total War.
Barbarian Invasion was released in January 2005.

The description from CA's web site says: "It's 363 AD and a seemingly unstoppable tide of barbarian invaders is massing on the borders of a fractured Roman Empire. Command huge armies of would-be Barbarian conquerors or take control of Roman armies in defence of the old empire. An expansion pack for the award-winning Rome: Total War, Barbarian Invasion places you 200 years after the original campaign, where an epic war to decide the fate of the world's grandest empire is now yours to control!"

The structure of the basic game is very similar to the original Rome - Total War, with some notable additions:

Ten new barbaric factions are added to the original game.

Religious factors are added in BI, three religions are used; Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Paganism. If the population of your city doesn't agree with the official religion set by your leader or church building then you can experience a whole new realm of unrest problems.

Loyalty factors are added to the game, Roman cities and generals may revolt to Roman rebel factions if their loyalty factor drops too low.

Night battles are another addition, perhaps slightly difficult to fight but great to look at with all your units carrying blazing torches to light their way.

Hording is a new attribute for factions in BI; you think you have destroyed the Roxolani by taking their last settlement? Think again!

Shield walls and shiltrons replace the phalanx's of the earlier game, and some units can now swim to avoid the impasse created by bridge battles.